Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a joint between two joint partners, which in each case have at least one flat, cylindrical or conical surface section via which force is applied to the joint partners and the latter can be brought into contact with one another in a sliding fashion in such a way that the flat, cylindrical or conical surface sections of the two joint partners overlap only partially and form a common bearing surface in the contact region.
Machine parts which abut one another under applied force and in a loose joint via mutual contact surfaces in a combined system experience in the course of normal material fatigue and as a consequence of transient or other differential movements superficial incipient cracks which can lead to the total failure of the machine parts through a further mechanical stress owing to crack growth.
Differential movements between machine parts occur, in particular, wherever the machine parts are subjected to vibrations or thermal loads. In the case of thermal loads, mutually adjacent materials with different thermal expansion responses are subject to relative movements as a consequence of being heated or cooled at different speeds, although the individual machine parts have been designed, for example, for a stationary application. Particularly in the case of alternating loads, which act unremittingly on machine parts when there are mechanical vibrations, but also in the case of changes in temperature, incipient microscopic cracks are formed perpendicular to the contact surface of the mutually abutting machine parts and can lead in further operation, because of prevailing alternating loads to crack growth into the predamaged material which is orientated normal to the contact surface.